2066: Project Uranus
2066: Project Uranus is a science fiction novel by Gilbert Martinez that was started at the end of 2013. It has yet to be finished. The story centers around a man named Jacob Muller, an employee working for the American Robotics and Technology Institution, or ARTI, who eventually becomes a willing volunteer to be sent to Uranus to investigate for signs of life. The story is predominantly set in the year 2066. Preface The novel begins with a two-part preface. The first part details World War III, while the second part details the society of the 2060s. 'Part I: World War III' The state of the world in 2066 has very much to do with the consequences of World War III, which was concluded in 2060. The war itself was declared on April 22, 2053, as a consequence of ongoing political tension between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It had been 108 years since the end of World War II. Since then, most of the world was full of developed nations. Nuclear warfare that was feared 100 years before then had started to become a reality, although, instead of Soviets, it was every belligerent in World War III. As one could imagine, the nuclear warfare that characterized World War III devastated much of the world and resulted in the deaths of enough people to make the world’s population as it was circa 2005. When the war began, the population had just reached 8,000,000,000. At the end of the war, however, that number had been lowered to 6,322,047,424. To put this into perspective, imagine a group of five people. These can be friends, family members, classmates, etc. Imagine, if you will, that one of these people dies. Now, let’s apply that to a 30-student classroom. Since there are six groups of five students in that classroom, let’s say that about 6 of them die. What I mean to say here is that, as a result of World War III, just about one in five people in the world were killed. This number doesn’t simply apply for people killed in action or any civilian casualties; this number accounts for all those affected in the world. It’s because of this number that World War III has been recently deemed the most dangerous military conflict in the world’s history, placing World War II a distant runner up. Because of World War III, Iran and its allies were left as bankrupt nations, and the rest of the world was left to recover from the nuclear holocausts. Much of the world was left with little to no financial and economic support, all because Iran wanted financial and economic support, all because of extensive American oil drilling in Iran. As a result, many nations looked down upon the United States and Iran. Not to mention, both of these nations eventually grew to hate each other and themselves. Below is the events that led up to and happened in World War III. Events that mostly or solely effected the American Allies are marked in blue, while those that mostly or solely effected the Iranian Allies are marked in red. Events that evenly effected both are marked in purple. 'Events Before World War III' The tension began as early as 2019 and slowly worsened as the years dragged on. There was tension because the United States had depleted its oil supply that year, and so it began solely relying on Iran for oil. Once oil and other fossil fuels were banned in 2025, American companies has no choice but to abandon their oil drilling sites. The land they left behind had become lifeless and infertile due to the years of countless drilling by the Americans. The oil supply of Iran was just barely over depleted, leaving Iran in serious financial and economic trouble. Enraged, the Iranian government demanded the Unites States President Albert Kensington to provide support in both areas, as well as the return of Iranian oil back to where it belonged. Unfortunately, most of the oil drilled from Iran had been used to supply gas stations. Even when all of the unused oil and gasoline were taken from the derelict gas stations and added with what still needed to be shipped, the United States could only return less than 16% of Iran’s oil to Iran. To provide compensation, Kensington proposed that the American government would give $50,000,000 to Iran per year over the course of 20 years until Iran had all the financial support it needed. Seeing an opportunity to become a very wealthy nation once more, the Iranian government demanded the payment be made over the course of 30 years. Both sides agreed to what became known as the Iranian Oil Compensation Act. After 16 years, most of the Iranian officials were replaced by newer ones, who had grown up in and experienced the American oil drilling. With the drilling in mind, the Iranian government demanded $75,000,000 per year from the United States. Every 4 years, the Iranian government demanded more and more money from the United States. This began to take its toll on the financial status of the United States, and soon tensions arose again. On April 22, 2053, the Iranian government demanded $5,000,000,000 per year from the United States. That’s when President Keith Stronghold demanded Iran to pay back some of the loans. The Iranian government refused the demand, and so President Stronghold declared war on Iran. *2019 **August 19 ***The United States depletes its oil supply. **September 4 ***The United States begins drilling for oil solely in Iran. *2023 **November 16 ***A bill calling for a nationwide ban on fossil fuel usage is passed into law, becoming the Fossil Fuel Conservation Act of 2023. *2025 **January 1 ***The 2023 Conservation Act goes into effect, forcing American oil drills to be closed down and abandoned in Iran. **January 27 ***Iran asks for financial and economic assistance from the United States, as well as the return of its oil to where it originally came from. **February 1 ***The financial and economic assistance for Iran begins. *2041 **June 26 ***Iran begins to ask for more money from the United States Government. *2045 **April 24 ***Iran asks for more money. *2049 **September 21 ***Iran asks for even more money. **November 19 ***The United States enters a financial and economic crisis. *2053 **April 22 ***Iran asks for more money. The United States declares war on Iran. 'Events During World War III' Eventually, both sides garnered support from other countries. The United States gained the support of Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and South Korea. Iran gained the support of Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Vietnam, and North Korea. These alliances changed what was originally called the Iran-American War into World War III. For the first few months of the war, the United States had the upper hand. Thanks to a very strong militarist ideology, many of the nations allied with the United States had highly advanced military forces and weapons. The major source of their forces came from the United States. However, funding for the United States Military dwindled in June 2053, due to the payments to Iran, and so the United States Allies forces lost momentum. That’s when Iran gained the upper hand. Iran and its allies invaded some of the nations in allegiance with the United States, including the United States itself, giving way to Iranian Occupation in the invaded nations. For the rest of 2053 and into 2054, the Iranian Allies began to invade other nations, including the neutral nations that refused to become involved in the war. By January 2054, most of the United States Allies were left at the mercy of the Iranian Allies. However, on February 22 that year, the United States made a comeback using a tactic nicknamed the Last Resort – the use of nuclear weapons. The United States Allies began to bomb several cities in the Middle East and North Korea. In return, the Iranian Allies began to bomb several cities in the United States and Europe. The Last Resort would last until all nuclear weapons were depleted. As a result, nuclear devastation lasted from February 22, 2054, to December 18, 2059 – almost six years. This period became known as the Nuclear Devastation. By the end of the decade, most of the major world cities were either derelict or completely obliterated. It is because of the Last Resort that the death toll of the war climbed to unbelievable heights. At the start of 2060, both sides were in serious trouble; their most powerful resources were now spent, most of their military forces were dead, and the world’s economy was in a state that rivaled the Great Depression of the 1930s. This lead to the rise of guerrilla warfare by both forces on January 6, 2060. As a result, the part of the war fought in 2060 is known as the Guerrilla Period. In this period of time, the United States Allies once again had the upper hand. As a result of the Nuclear Devastation, all of the major cities located in the Iranian Allies nations were eradicated, and the countries were left poorer than ever before. It became evident that Iran would eventually lose the war, but the Iranian Allies still fought on for as long as they could. Over the next seven months, the armies of the Iranian Allies dwindled ever so slightly lower due to the guerrilla warfare. On July 16, 2060, Iran and its allies finally surrendered and gave the American loans back to the United States, who eventually shared it amongst its own allies to aid in reconstruction efforts. At last, the onslaught of devastation known as World War III was over. *2053 **May 9–13 ***The United States gains allies. **May 19–June 2 ***Iran gains allies. **June 18–19 ***The United States depletes its military funding. The United States Allies begin to dwindle in military strength. **June 23–July 21 ***Iran and its allies invade and occupy parts of the United States Allies nations and neutral nations not involved with the war. **August 1 ***Iran and its allies lose its occupied territories in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. However, it still has a firm grip on the United States Allies. *2054 **February 22 ***The United States and its allies begin the Last Resort. Nuclear Devastation begins. **February 23 ***Iran and its allies fight back with nuclear weapons. *2059 **December 18 ***Nuclear Devastation ends. *2060 **January 8 ***Guerrilla Period begins. **July 16 ***Iran and its allies surrender. Guerrilla Period and World War III ends. As a result of the war, 1,677,952,576 people died out of 8,000,000,000. Essentially, about 20% of the human population was killed in World War III. Plot The plot will not be added here until the book's completion.